Butterfingers

Just now, VILLAMARV said:

No @Butterfingers it's a joke. The winky thing sorta gives that one away

Great-I can only advise you not to give up the day job then-A comedian you are not.

I'm sorry but really, what is remotely funny about stating that Villa will ruin a player if you don't mean it?  it makes no sense at all.

17 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

Personally I'm expecting us to ruin him like we have every striker since Deano/Yorke

I assume this is your idea of a "well thought out" post?

Can you please explain, on what grounds you expect Villa to "ruin" Kodjia?

17 minutes ago, BOF said:

I do hope people aren't expecting to add Kodjia's 19 to McCormack's 21 and Gestede's 22.  It doesn't work like that.  These players got their goals as the main striker in their respective teams last time out*.  They'll find a level here and we should be fine for goals.  But we're not going to have 3 main prolific strikers all getting 20 apiece ... prove me wrong guys, please!   

 

* Well, Gestede had Rhodes alongside him too ...

It doesn't matter where the goals come from.  having Kodjia in there will help create for others as well.  defenders can mark Gestede and read the paper at the same time.  having someone with presence and movement will create space for others.

15 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

Yeah stop disrespecting us with your well thought out, well presented views on a player you have fond memories of......splitter.

Well thought out?

The only well thought out thing about the posts is that every time he gives Kodjia a bit of credit, there is a sting in the tail.

Whatever possessed you to think they were well thought out anyway?  All I see is a desperation to quote people saying that they'd have accepted less than £11 million for him.  That is not well thought out, it is petty.

2 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

I didn't fail to mention that at all, I have said it multiple times. Perhaps you need to go back and read my posts, rather than picking and choosing which bit you want and making untrue assertions about my club.

I have read your posts.  I have interpreted them as stinking of bitterness.

You have begrudgingly accepted that he's half decent and then by the same token suggested that he's limited, has baron spells, needs a high ratio of chances and then you suggested that we've grossly overpaid and that you are laughing all the way to the bank.

Go and enjoy your £11 million being spent "behind the scenes" if that's what matters to you.  I'm more than happy paying £11 million for an international striker who got 19 goals last season for a side that finished 18th.

38 minutes ago, JamesBCFC said:

We made plenty of chances last season, even if we finished 18th.

Just because we finished in a low position doesn't mean we didn't make the chances. Our issue at the back was the main reason we did badly.

He got 19 goals.  One less than the divisions top scorer.  If he gets 19 again this season, he can miss as many as he wants.

it is very rare for strikers not to miss chances, hence 19 or 20 goals being considered an excellent tally.

You also failed to mention that he scored goals out of nothing that no one else in your side would have scored.  the one balances out the other.

If strikers convert all their chances, they'll be on 40 or 50 goals a season.  That is why 20 is always considered an excellent return.

51 minutes ago, bobzy said:

Maybe. I doubt many of us have seen him yet aren't necessarily believing a Bristol City fan who is posting about Kodjia. 

To me, he sounds remarkably like Ayew. Needs a whole host of chances to score but will score a fair few over a season.

He's had one season in English football. One. It's a big gamble for me - hope it comes off. 

How many 20 goal a season players need "a whole host of chances"?  How many chances do you think that lowly Bristol City made?

Bristol wanted more than £10mil for him, he had 3 years on a contract remaining.  For me the £11mil was about right in todays market for a player whose club didn't want to sell and who was tied in for 3 years.

Every signing is a gamble, regardless of the fee involved.  Kodjia is better than what we have so has improved the side.  Our options were limited in who we could bring in, with us being a championship side.  For me, it was critical that we bought in a striker.  Hernandez fell through so what options were left?  Maybe the Notts Forest kid but isn't that just as big a gamble given his injury?

I personally prefer the team to be right before worrying about other issues.

We lost Benteke for £32 mil last season and ended up relegated.

Look at Spurs and the money spent with the Bale money

Spurs didn't replace Bale, we didn't replace Benteke and you won't replace Kodjia.

If you need to sell to survive then the deal was good for someone who was only with you for 12 months.  12 months time though, look at your team and see how it has benefited from the sale

3 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said:

They don't seem to lack a good scout as far as strikers go to be fair to them.

Great-If they find another one, we can buy him as well and then they'll have some more money in the bank

Bristol fans don't seem able to comprehend that money in the bank doesn't benefit them, be it £7mil,  £11mil or £15mil.

Just now, VillaChris said:

I would agree with that but we've already seen this summer despite all the changes individual errors are still costing us goals and we've had two major collapses when under pressure in away games.

I think those are the two main things nagging away at me in which I don't quite think we'll make top 2...we should certainly be in the play offs though even if it is a lottery.

The goalie is a worry-Incredibly young for a first teamer.  His mistakes could have affected his confidence, even in this early stage.

it wasn't only away that we folded-Huddersfield also took control of the game second half.

being the eternal optimist, I put it down to the team getting used to each other still.

The two latest signings will help immensely and I'd venture to suggest that had Kodjia played against Huddersfield, the game would have been out of sight at half time-Derby also, possibly.

1 hour ago, omariqy said:

Top 10 for me. I think it is a massive ask to go from 17 points to a promotion in such a short amount of time.

Why?

The two sides are incompatible.

Last season has no bearing on anything-We have a completely new team, new manager and even new owner.  There is a feelgood factor about the place.

Are you saying there are 10 better sides than Villa?  Or that because a team playing in Villa colours last season has any influence on what a completely different side this time around will do?

We have 2 of the top 3 strikers from last season and a side littered with Premier League players.  Why should they finish 10th?

12 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I don't think I've actually said yet but I think we will finish between 1st and 4th. 

On paper it would be top 4.  We're slightly disadvantaged due to the team being thrown together so quickly.

What I really like about the division is that there are some really good managers who are able to motivate sides.  Chris Hughton at Brighton being the obvious stand out one but there are several others.  I'm really enjoying the division so far.  It reminds me of what football used to be like before TV and the middle classes ruined it

Our bench is looking quite strong

D Baker/Hutton/Bacuna
DM Westwood
AM Grealish/Aywe/Bacuna
A Gestede

12 minutes ago, Mjvilla said:

Almost left for palace during the summer apparently, don't see him being here after January personally.

Well he needs to knuckle down now and start playing.

If he carries on like he has done in August, I don't see him being in the starting line up come January personally.

He is not going to start in the front two unless there's an injury or suspension so he is in direct competition with Grealish and Adomah for the two wide positions.  He may get the nod ahead of Adomah on Sunday but once Adomah gets his chance, it could mean a stright choice between Grealish and Ayew on the left side.

Based purely on the YT videos, I preferred Kodjia to Hernandez.  His goals looked more varied, whereas Hernandez seemed to get a lot of tap ins/ goalmouth scrambles.  I like the movement of Kodjia and he has the three things we required from a frontman, pace, presence and movement.  I honestly think that he can score a lot of goals for us this season, given the way we have played and created so far.

I remember there being a programme cover of those floodlights, taken from some distance from the ground during a night game.  That was a good picture also.

The old Witton end was strange.  I sometimes used it in the summer months.  For some reason I was in there also for the 5-1 night game against Liverpool.  What was really funny was that the terracing stopped about 5 or 10 yards from the back and the last bit was literally just a bank.  Talk about safe standing, the whole end would have been shut down in this day and age.

1 hour ago, Holtern8 said:

Spending lots of money doesn't equate to being higher up the table!! There's plenty of examples of this like ermm, us last season! 

We've won 1 in 5 so far.

That said, we have dominated matches and had the most shots on target in the whole league.

I think the season is long enough and there is enough dross for us to beat and get top 6.

Automatic I would deem as unlikely, there are better teams than us in this league. But there isn't 6 better teams than us.

Try telling Chelsea and Man City that.

We didn't spend lots of money last season net.  We lost our best players and replaced them with average at best.

This time around, we've kept 2 or 3 and replace the rest of the wasters with better.

I personally believe that there were some very bad apples in the squad last season, least of all Gabby & Richards.

I think now we have come this far in the freezing out of Gabby, we should stick with it.  He is good enough to make the bench but not having him there is not the end of the world. Continue to freeze him out and he'll eventually get the message that if he wants to play football again, he'll have to do it elsewhere. 

It's a new day and a new dawn now.  The Gabby era is over.

How much should we have spent in order to have been a top 6 Championship side?

Do people seriously think there are 8 sides in the division with a better squad than Villas or are some just naturally pessimistic?

What players in these 8 teams should we have signed instead of the ones we did?

.... from doom and gloom to positivity and now it's gone all the way back to doom and gloom again?

The two most expensive strikers in Championship history, a record Championship net spend and people think we'll finish 8th to 12th?

Priceless.

At that rate we'll need half the Real Madrid side to get back up.

1 minute ago, markavfc40 said:

Even during the last few years of tripe we did well in derby games in comparison to other games. Let the other local mobs worry about facing us.

Wolves are only the same as any other Championship side who will raise their game against us.  Blues are only the same as Albion, bitter,twisted and inferior, who also raise their game against us.

Every game will be similar to a derby this season, as teams look forward to playing us.

5 hours ago, Richard said:

somewhere between 8 and 12

How much do you reckon should have been spent in order to have managed top 6?  Surely with the amount we've spent, we could have bought entire squads of teams who will finish 8th to 12th?

Top 6 for me.  Top 2 will be a bonus but we'll make the play offs-A new situation for all of us.

32 minutes ago, Richard said:

I also find it a little ironic,  but this is less of a point as well actually,  that we were able to prevent a player from moving clubs as it did not suit us financially but then are perfectly at liberty to criticise a player for not moving clubs as it did not suit him financially.

No

In the case of Bennett, he was free to move but chose not to because it would have meant a drop in wages.  The criticism is that it was suggested that we were holding back his career.  He held his own career back by placing money before his career.  No complaint with that but don't criticise Villa for refusing to subsidise his career away from VP.  Nobody subsidises the players we sign.

Regarding players who chose to rot in the background and pick up their money (as did N'Zogbia last year).  These people leave themselves open to criticism.

1 minute ago, Demitri_C said:

Guess our business is done now, what a great window. Would have liked to have seen a keeper though but hey ho hopefully gollini cuts out the errors and we can push on now.

Not convinced.

I reckon another 1 at least, albeit maybe a loan,

I still think a permanent signing  is possible if the  deal is right, maybe dependant on offloading someone.